Part One: Beginnings of the build

Medically retired Green Beret John McCrillis had a clear cut American dream. Prior to his injuries, his hopes included maintaining service to his country and starting multiple businesses upon military retirement.

But McCrillis did not dream he would sustain gunshot wounds, one to his chest and one to his leg, while trying to capture Taliban commanders in Afghanistan. He did not dream he would return home with posttraumatic stress disorder, with worries of providing for his family, and tough questions. “How do I get back to the man I used to be?” he said.

Finally, McCrillis, of San Antonio, Texas, certainly did not dream Operation Finally Home (OFH), a national, nonprofit organization headquartered in San Antonio, would change, perhaps even save his life by building him a custom mortgage free home, granting him a strong foundation to move forward with his life.

Changing the lives of wounded veterans across the nation since 2005, OFH now debuts in Wisconsin, thanks to a host of builders, contractors and other community supporters who are donating time and materials to the cause. Leading the way are Belman Homes in Waukesha, Tim O’Brien Homes in Pewaukee, and Neumann Companies, also in Pewaukee.

Each homebuilder is building a house on a pair of lots in Cranberry Creek Subdivision in Jackson, and lots are being provided by Neumann. Local supporters include Renewals by Andersen Milwaukee, Metropolitan Builders Association and Wisconsin Builders Association. Building Component Manufacturers Conference (BCMC) is donating lumber and windows. Some other main sponsors are Westbury Bank, Dave Jones, Inc., Dave Droegkamp Heating and Cooling, Beaudry and Associates, and Drexel Building Supply.

David Belman, president of Belman Homes, said he learned of OFH at International Builders Show in February 2014. A benefit concert featured a video story of a soldier who saved his entire battalion by extinguishing ammunitions with his injured legs, but ultimately lost both legs. “He had six kids at home, which hit me hard. Then the soldier walked out on stage with metal legs,” Belman said. “OFH gave him a fresh start on life. He didn’t have to worry about how he was going to provide for his family. He could focus on his recovery and his future.”

Belman later attended a Wisconsin Builders’ Association meeting and learned BCMC was bringing their annual trade show to Milwaukee with hopes of simultaneously sparking interest in OFH in Wisconsin. “I thought, ‘If other people are involved who want to help, I can do this,’” he said. “So, I jumped in right away.”
Quick to join forces was Tim O’Brien, president of Tim O’Brien Homes. “One of our core values is ‘embracing social responsibility,’” he said. “It’s a warm feeling for our team knowing we can help an individual who served our country.”

Neumann Companies owner Matt Neumann agreed. “We are honored to play even a small part in helping our veterans adjust to normal life back home,” Neumann said.

OFH began by happenstance in Texas when OFH founder and chairman Dan Wallrath, previous owner of a building company, was summoned by one of his suppliers for an unusual request. The supplier’s friend was in the process of bringing his young Marine son home after the soldier sustained severe head injuries in Iraq, Wallrath said. The hope was Wallrath would remodel the home to accommodate the son’s wheelchair.

A custom home builder since 1974, Wallrath had asked his supplier, ‘Why in the world would you ask me to do that? I don’t remodel, I just build custom homes,” Wallrath said. “The supplier said, ‘You are first person I thought of.’ My intention was to go to the home and recommend a remodeler, but the father showed me before and after pictures of his son. It was just devastating. He was tearing up and so was I. I said, ‘Look, I’ll get this thing done for you.’”

The father told Wallrath the Veteran’s Administration had allotted $5,500 to make the home wheelchair accessible, Wallrath said. “The amount wouldn’t even enlarge the front door,” he said. “I couldn’t get my mind off the family and other families in same situation. In thinking our country took care of our wounded, and come to find out they didn’t was a real shock to me. I just couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I then returned to my friends at the builders’ association and said, ‘I bet we can build a home’ … and so, we did.”

Over the next years, they built one house per year, never imagining they would help more than one house at a time, Wallrath said. “Then it was two houses, four houses, and then 13 houses. Now … houses in different stages in 20 different states. God has really blessed our organization.”

In the comfort and security of his OFH home, 30 year old McCrillis gazes upon his newborn daughter, Charlotte, along with his wife, Katherine McCrillis and three year old daughter, Elizabeth, reflecting on his own blessings.

“My wife and I prayed we’d become OFH recipients. My life was in a downward spiral, and the gift gave me hope. So blessed … there is no doubt in my mind,” John McCrillis said.

“After being injured, you almost accept defeat because it’s such a mentally and physically draining process of recovery, which is why this home was critically important to me,” he said. “I wake up every day in a house put together by hundreds of people. The paint on my walls, the light switches and every minute detail in my house…somebody put in effort for me. With this nonprofit, you will never meet better human beings.”

Coming up next Sunday… Part Two: Selecting wounded veterans for OFH Milwaukee area homes